p1

[blind dog]

whats happening in p1,the web site is very peacefull and i here rumours of different venues being iffy.anyone know?

[BluFin]

Iffy...................... is that in Malta ?

[bert]

hope not was planning to go to malta
my missus got a free weekend in a western hotel, May being both of our birthdays, I talked her into going to malta

does anyone know

[ForTwo]

Malta is confirmd mate
8 - 10 May

[Mike Lloyd]

Originally Posted by ForTwo

Malta is confirmd mate
8 - 10 May

What length are your courses now? I have just read the following on the P1 site and can't believe P1 are making the courses shorter because the boats haven't got the reliability!

Quote from the P1 Site.
Two of the key elements that should keep racing as close in 2009 as it was in 2008 are shorter races and an altered points system. The new, shorter race lengths, in particular, have been particularly well received, especially by teams who struggled with reliability over the course of a weekend. Others think it is more beneficial for spectators – especially as Powerboat P1 targets live TV coverage.
“The move to slightly shorter races is okay, and good for spectators,” says #66 Cranefields Wine team boss Siegfried Grieve. “But the endurance race should have slightly longer distances between the buoys and not only more laps. The boats need different conditions. This is good, and must be kept.”
“The races definitely needed to be shorter,” says Tedeschi. “Especially the longer Endurance race on the Saturday. Races cannot be too long if we are live on TV.”
There are several reasons for the shorter races,” says Hindley. “Ultimately, it’s a better show if it’s shorter in time. Secondly, the reliability rate during 2008 wasn’t that great. By shortening the course slightly, we take some stress off the boats, automatically improving their performance and, at the same time, improving the show. If reliability goes up, and if 80 or 90 per cent of the boats are finishing both races on a weekend, then we can look at making the courses longer again.

This is all foreign to me, you either race for TV and the glamour and the so called glory or you race for the fun of it, as in Marathon. Obviously you can't have both.
ML.

[Tony Davis]

Sounds like the first few nails being hammered into the coffin. If they are going to shorten the races so that the "teams who struggled with reliability over the course of a weekend" will have a better chance of completing the weekends racing, then perhaps they ought to consider not racing at all, and just have a show and shine in the carpark!

How is it teams such as Fountain can be so consistent, whilst others can't. Is it lack of budget, preparation or just the wrong choice of equipment?

After the farce at Cowes the other year, it looked like P1 were finally getting their act together, only to now do a complete U turn! It's fast becoming a bit of a joke.

Perhaps the Bernie Ecclestone wannabe ought to go back to baking.